Fedora 20 for ARM includes two image types - one for use with platforms requiring a VFAT partition (such as Texas Instruments's AM335x-based Beaglebone Black), the other for use with devices that boot from an EXT3/4 partition (such as CompuLab's Tegra2-based TrimSlice). For each of these image types, there are a number of images providing for a variety of desktop choices (including MATE, KDE, XFCE, LXDE, SOAS), as well as a minimal image that does not include the desktop. Any of these images can be used with QEMU on an x86_64 desktop to emulate a fully functional ARM environment.

The image-based installation process involves downloading an image file (depending upon the target type and desktop/non-desktop option desired), inserting removable media into a "host" system (e.g. an ARM or x86_64 PC class desktop, laptop, etc.) and performing a few simple commands to write this image onto the media. This media is then used by the ARM "target" system to boot the Fedora 20 environment.

Note The examples provided here are from a Fedora 19 host and may need to be adjusted depending on your host environment.

For the BeagleBone Black

IMPORTANT At this time you must have a serial console cable for the BeagleBone Black. For those that do not, please see the FAQ at the bottom of the page

Support for the BeagleBone Black has been added in Fedora 20. The GA release includes basic support which will be extended to include HDMI and USB with the release of the 3.12 kernel. A remix is planned
when support is available. In the interim, the minimal image is recommended.

Insert into your BeagleBone Black and boot. (NOTE - do not hold any buttons on the Beaglebone Black to allow U-Boot to be loaded from eMMC. The LEDs will remain lit in U-Boot and will shut off when the Fedora kernel is booted)

For the CompuLab TrimSlice

IMPORTANT You must use the latest Device Tree enabled U-Boot to boot the Fedora 20 Trimslice image, which you can find here. And environmental variables described here. Failure to do so will result in a non-booting system.

Remove and reinsert the media into the host PC to automatically mount the image.

The Wandboard includes a Solo, Dual, and Quad core configuration. Determine your hardware configuration and use the appropriate value. While the Wandboard Quad has been tested and confirmed working, the Solo and Dual core models should also work as well.

Note - You may need to edit the extlinux.conf file and add the UUID of your root filesystem. To check this use 'sudo blkid /dev/<location-of-your-media>'. Make note of the Root filesystem UUID (the UUID from the example below corresponds to the Minimal image UUID).

Network Installation on the Wandboard

Regardless of how you you choose to network install your wandboard you will need to install u-boot onto the microsd card first.

The prefered way to network install Fedora on the wandboard is to setup a pxe install tree you will need to mirror all the contents of the pxeboot tree including the dtb directory that has dtbs for all boards

if for some reason you can not use pxe you can manually load each of the bits from a tftp server by following the following steps.

This has been tested on the Wandboard Quad, use the appropriate 'dtb' for your board and adjust the IP addresses to match your network. This will also require a working tftp server and a MicroSD with U-Boot.

If you reformatted '/boot' during the installation to the MicroSD you will need re-write U-Boot to the MicroSD card and create the DTB symlink as noted above.

Known issues on the Wandboard

When updating the kernel you will need to update the symlink for the DTB in '/boot'

USB Root not booting. SATA untested.

For Versatile Express Emulation with QEMU

No ARM hardware? No problem! Even without hardware, it is possible to run the Fedora 20 Beta for ARM images using the QEMU emulator program. Any image can be used, and you can choose a script method or manual depending on your preference.

Booting with device tree is possible, although passing --gui for graphics will not work at this time (this is due to ongoing platform reword occurring within the Versatile Express kernel code). Booting without device tree is recommended for F-20, as it will work in both serial and graphics mode, whereas passing a DTB will only work with serial.

Interactive Network Installation

Fedora 20 offers the ability to perform a network installation using either 'vexpress-a15' or 'vexpress-a9'. Using 'vexpress-a15' will allow you to leverage more RAM using the LPAE kernel.

Complete a Text or VNC Installation choosing a software packge and partitioning scheme (note when choosing LVM or BTRFS you will need to edit the kernel arguments appropriately). The system will attempt to reboot but fail until the next step is completed.

Extracting Files from the Disk Image

Once completed you will need to copy the kernel and initramfs and DTB from the disk image for use with Virt-Manager or command line.

Resize the Root Filesystem

By default the root partition should be re-sized to fill the media in use on first boot. To use this additional space run:

resize2fs /dev/sda3

Calxeda EnergyCore (HighBank and Midway)

Fedora 20 for ARM includes support for systems that are able to perform a network installation using a kickstart, including enterprise hardware such as the Highbank and Midway processors from Calxeda. A working kickstart can be found here. Note the same kickstart can be used interchangeably on Highbank and Midway.

For more detailed instructions on setting this up, please visit this page.

Booting for the First Time

Initial-setup

During the first boot the system will launch the 'initial-setup' utility. For graphical images this will occur on the display, for minimal images this will occur on the serial console. Failure to complete the initial-setup will prevent logging into the system. To log in to the root account without completing the initial-setup you will need to minimally edit '/etc/passwd' file and remove the 'x' from the line beginning with 'root' (this will allow you to log into the root account without entering a password).

Known Issues

The Beaglebone Black will boot the Fedora 20 Beta VFAT images, however there is currently no USB. This is actively being worked on, if you would like to contribute please visit #fedora-arm on Freenode.

The images include dracut-modules-growroot and cloud-utils-growpart which should automatically resize the root partition on first boot, due to a bug this does not occur. The work around is to resize the root partition using GParted or equivalent.

FAQ

QUESTION : How do I use Fedora ARM when I have no serial cable or display.

ANSWER: Though not recommended it is possible to use Fedora ARM without a serial cable or display. When doing so you may want to limit updates to reduce the possibility of not being able to boot. (This example is from a Fedora 19 system, you may need to adjust the mounts used).